The incorporation of complex structural features and decorative designs into articles of footwear often requires the use of complicated and expensive manufacturing processes and materials, time consuming and labor intensive manufacturing steps, and high labor, manufacturing, and material costs. These processes may include, for example, the manufacture and use of highly complicated and expensive multi-component molds and the need for time consuming and difficult manual processing and post-processing steps.
In addition, many aspects of the performance, comfort, and look of articles of footwear are dependent upon the performance and physical characteristics and needs of the wearer of the footwear, with athletes often seeking footwear specifically adapted for their performance, comfort, and aesthetic requirements, and for the specific activity being performed. Manufacturing performance athletic footwear specific to different athletes and athletic needs is often difficult without the use of complex and often expensive manufacturing processes, structural elements, materials, and/or other features. One possible solution to this is described in U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 61/938,999, filed by the assignee/applicant in the instant case on Feb. 12, 2014 and entitled “Sole for Footwear, and Systems and Methods for Designing and Manufacturing Same,” and U.S. patent application Ser. No. 14/134,948, filed by the assignee/applicant in the instant case on Dec. 19, 2013 and published as U.S. Publication No. 2014/0182170, and entitled “Customized Footwear, and Systems and Methods for Designing and Manufacturing Same,” the disclosures of which are both incorporated herein by reference in their entirety. These cases include a description of methods and systems for forming at least a portion of the article of footwear (e.g., the midsole) by determining parameters related to a particular user or a particular athletic activity, determining performance metrics based on an analysis of the parameters, and, based on the performance metrics, forming appropriate structural features in the article of footwear.